Residential homes remain a black hole for energy

Built in Soviet days, Ukraine's centralized and dilapidated apartment heating system is not only inefficient, but brittle and prone to accidents. In one of the most extreme examples, pipes that were to pump hot water to heat apartments in the eastern Ukrainian city of Alchevsk froze and cracked in the winter of 2006. Residents living in hundreds of buildings were left freezing during the cold snap. Authorities responded by erecting tents with wood-burning stoves. In some cases warm air was pumped into buildings (above) using special trucks.

But there is little progress on cutting down on gas consumption in a nation that is notoriously energy inefficient in fueling its industry and heating homes.

While billionaire oligarchs have in recent years reduced gas use at their industrial factories, officials continue to drag their feet in economizing and attracting investment that would make heating apartments more efficient.

Central heating and tap water heating consumes nine billion cubic meters of gas each year, more than 15 percent of the country’s total gas use.

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